--- title: A 4-year-old Pennsylvania Boy Was Summoned for Jury Duty description: The law of the land in the United States is that anyone charged with a crime must be convicted by a jury of peers. So... canonical: https://time.com/5243086/boy-summoned-jury-duty/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-04-18T15:28:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:52:14.492Z og:title: A 4-year-old Pennsylvania Boy Was Summoned for Jury Duty og:description: He has preschool that day og:url: https://time.com/5243086/boy-summoned-jury-duty/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt87512076ea5c346f/6988d4407cdbac58bdd59096/sexist-laws-explained-north-carolina-sexual-consent-law.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5100 og:image:height: 2869 og:image:alt: Empty chairs in jury box og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A 4-year-old Pennsylvania Boy Was Summoned for Jury Duty twitter:description: He has preschool that day twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt87512076ea5c346f/6988d4407cdbac58bdd59096/sexist-laws-explained-north-carolina-sexual-consent-law.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Busy 4-Year-Old Boy Was Summoned for Jury Duty But He Has Preschool That Day > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Apr 18, 2018 3:28 PM UTC  Empty Jury Seats in Courtroom Empty Jury Seats in Courtroom Getty Images by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Apr 18, 2018 3:28 PM UTC The law of the land in the United States is that anyone charged with a crime must be convicted by a jury of peers. So if any [four-year olds are headed](http://time.com/5224255/john-oliver-immigration-courts-last-week-tonight/) to court soon, Pennsylvania is ready. Four-year old Damien Shrader received a summons in the mail, and according to [WNEP](http://wnep.com/2018/04/17/four-year-old-summoned-for-jury-duty/), it ordered the preschooler to report to the Luzerne County Courthouse to fulfill his civic obligations. Unfortunately, Shrader has a conflict on his schedule (“He has preschool that day,” according to his mother) and won’t be able to take the day off to sit on a jury. Shrader’s parents went to the Luzerne County [Courthouse](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,2036448,00.html) Tuesday and explained the situation. As anyone who has tried to get out of jury duty know, normally it’s pretty difficult to convince the court that you need a deferral. Luckily for Shrader, the court quickly realized that they did not need a four-year old juror and the preschooler was granted a formal excuse from [jury](http://time.com/5066679/donald-trump-federal-judges-record/) duty for at least 15 years or so. “He’s always been a very serious child, but I didn’t think he was quite ready for that kind of a thing, there,” Shrader’s mom Desiree told [WNEP](http://wnep.com/2018/04/17/four-year-old-summoned-for-jury-duty/). According to WNEP, the court administrator believes the child’s name was added to the list of potential jurors thanks to being listed on tax documents after his great-grandmother bought him stocks. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5243086/boy-summoned-jury-duty/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5243086/boy-summoned-jury-duty/"},"headline":"Busy 4-Year-Old Boy Was Summoned for Jury Duty But He Has Preschool That Day","datePublished":"2018-04-18T15:28:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:52:14.492Z","description":"The law of the land in the United States is that anyone charged with a crime must be convicted by a jury of peers. 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